Using my Thinker

King J has a favorite little toy.   The original 6 sided, 9 square rubiks cube. 

 

Looking at his desk you would see he has quite the collection.  He has a 12 square, a 3 square, a Homer Simpson head and many other versions.  But nothing comes close to his favorite. 

 

It's the first one he got right after he started working with Hanjin.  He wanted something to do with his hands while he was on the phone with customers.  So as you can imagine.  It has seen better days since he has been working there for almost 12 years. 

 

Well he brought it home a few weeks ago and said he had been looking online for ways to lube it up so it would turn easier.  (who knew there were forums for such a thing, apparently it's made up of people who compete in tournaments)  Also how to fix the stickers because they were all curling up and sticky around the edges.

 

I suggested we just splurge the 6-7 bucks and get a new one.  But it just wouldn't be the same for King J.  He has a history with this little guy.  So he found the store that sold the particular type of lubricant suggested and it turns like a charm.  He asked if I could modge podge all the stickers down like many of the pro's suggest.  I thought that might cause more of a problem than be very helpful. 

 

But it gave me an idea.  Nail Polish!! 

 

 

 

 

God answers when we do our part....

This post is going to be kind a vague.  But it's what is on my mind today as it was fast and testimony meeting and King J and I were fasting for something that may drastically change our future, but aren't quite ready to share what it is yet.

There have been many times in my life when I have sought an answer or direction for my/family life.  I am grateful for parents who taught us the power of prayer along with fasting to unleash the blessings and guidance from our Father in Heaven.  It is amazing how he always answers.  For me it is usually through the testimony or actions of others around me.

 

Today those answers came through 2 separate sisters sharing their simple testimonies.  One talked about how when we exercise true faith and let Heavenly Father know exactly what we need, even if it seems impossible, he will answer.  And she said while looking directly at me.  The Holy Ghost spoke directly to my heart and testified that it was truth.

 

The second was a sister who had just returned from serving a mission with her husband and had gone to the sacrament service at the stake center this morning as they had to report to the high council.  She shared part of a testimony she had heard that morning. 

There had been a house fire on the 23rd of December and the house was gone.  The sister that shared said she was amazed at the miracles their family had witnessed amid the trials.  The morning after the fire they went back to the house and everything was gone.  Then had to leave in the night with only the pj's on their backs.  She realized they her purse had been left in their bedroom and it had all of their id's and keys and everything that said who they were.  They were devastated.  They turned to leave and the purse was sitting in the truck.

This sister shared how God is always willing to give us miracles.  He continues to make seemingly impossible things possible through our trust and faith in him.

 

I am excited for the future and I KNOW Heavenly Father will take care of our family.

 I am ready to exercise faith in him and his power to bless us even when it seems we need to take a leap into the darkness and allow him to show his hand.

 

Addicted

We have an addict living amongst us. 

 

On a daily basis I get asked if she/they can play Minecraft.  We have had to start using it as a reward at the end of the week for good behavior. Princess M can't get enough of the game. 

 

 She was over the moon last week when the xbox edition caught up to the computer and had all the updates.  She LOVES being able to make baby animals.

 

I love listening to her talk to herself when she is playing with her dad and big sister.  I get told all the time how quiet she is.  But if anyone could just hear her play mine craft. lol

 

This is what I am hearing right now as I type this, it's a constant stream of words and thoughts.....

 

"Home!!!!  I need to finish breaking up the cactus's.  SHOO pig...go to your natural home, in the forest!......Daddy I found another village!!!  Look at that its a pretty house...Is the villager home?  Oh hi guys, do you want to lay down?  Don't you dare go in!  (she has a nasty habit of going in and killing the occupants instead of building her own.  Thanks Link. ;) )  Ok now I'm going to collect villagers."  I ask why are you collecting villagers?  She replies with a sinister laugh "so they are in prison and I can take their house.  I'm not killing them mom.  Ahhh now I can make myself at home!"

 

We got her another xbox game, epic mickey, to help break it up for King J since she doesn't ever want to play alone or just with Princess E.  But it didn't hold her attention for very long. 

 It just isn't Minecraft.

A New Favorite Thing

 

 

Its funny what little things really get us excited. 

Well I stumbled upon this little gem yesterday and I am in LOVE!!

 

I have always preferred the radio over listening to albums.  Mainly for variety.  I get bored with the same sound over and over again.  So I have listened to Pandora and Iheart radio for years with my different playlists of exactly the stuff I want to listen to.  90's, kids stuff, and Sunday stuff mostly. :)

 

Well I would get frustrated in the car because my phone was always buffering and looking for a signal.  I prefer listening to my mix, especially since the girls are getting older and paying attention to lyrics more, over just the regular radio stations.

 

Now you may ask, well you could always purchase the stuff you like for an ipod or something.  Yeah, but that requires disposable money, which we never have nor could I justify it when I could just listen to stuff for free.

 

Enter spotify. 

 

It is like Pandora, iheart and Pinterest all in one.  You can follow your friends (who also have accounts) and watch their playlists as well as create your own.  And here's the best part, you can then download your playlists so you don't have to have an internet connection to listen to your favorite tunes.  And, its FREE.  Like Pandora it has adds (which makes it free) or you can pay $9.99 a month for add free.  I am in the initial 48 hour trial period so I have been downloading like crazy, don't know if adds will show up in the downloaded playlists once the trial is over.  I'll have to return and report in a day or two.  But for now, it is the greatest thing ever. 

Once Upon a Quiet Morning....

 

Nothing makes a mom happier than her kids getting along and playing quietly. 

 

I love that our girls are now at a great age where they can pretty much take care of them selves so I can sleep in, make phone calls setting up doctors/dentist appointments, or work on a very neglected blog.  Which just happens to be how I have spent my morning.

 

Well they both kept yelling to me as I was working in my own little world asking me how to spell certain words.  Finally I had to take a bathroom break and I stopped in to see what they were working on and why they were getting along without any fighting or name calling. 

 

As I approached the bedroom Princess M yells, "how do you spell Upon???"  I replied, "what do

you mean?   I swam in a pond?  Or upon completing the jobs?"  (it's just what came to mind lol)  She came back with, "Like Whence Upon?"   I said, " Whence upon?? What are you doing writing a Fancy Nancy book in there??"

They have been quietly playing with all of their Christmas loot and writing books. :)   

Despite their room looking like this 90% of the time, I couldn't ask for better kids.  I truly am blessed to have them call me their mom.

365

I have seen over the years and again in the last few days on Face book many people doing what they call project 365.  In essence, they are documenting something good in their life for each day of the year. 

So along with my gift of just being a better record keeper here on the new and improved Cooleyville blog, I am going to have the goal of keeping record every day of this year.  But I am not going to promise that each entry will have a picture.  That should make it a little bit easier to keep up. 

The Christmas of 2011 King J gave me a gift that was more thoughtful than anything he had ever given (well not ever, it was up there though)  He made this here blog into a bound book for me.  I LOVED it and will cherish it forever.  It gave me a new resolve to do better, but as those of you who have tried to follow up with us.  I was worse at keeping up than ever before.  I lost a whole year of our lives.

So I am determined to have a year worthy of being bound in print this year. :)

My Gift for 2013

One of my very favorite family traditions that we have that has carried over from child hood is our birthday party for Jesus.  It really isn't much, other than either telling the nativity story or acting it out.  Singing Happy Birthday and then giving a gift to the savior.

That is my favorite part.  Giving a gift just like the wise men did.  And it isn't just any gift.  It is something we are going to lay at the feet of the Savior.  Something we are going to do in the coming year to be more like him.  I will admit, this has become more precious to me in more recent years as I have really taken it serious and not just lip service.

Last year I gave the gift of forgiveness.  I worked really, really hard to forgive others as Jesus has forgiven me.  It was amazing to watch myself transform and grow closer to him as I continued to give that gift all year long.

I thought for a few weeks before our little party as to what I wanted to give for 2013 and I kept coming back to wanting to be a better record keeper.  But I knew how great I have been with it in the past and I kept brushing it off and thinking I should do something that I could actually follow through with.  But as I already said, I kept coming back to it.  We also did the gift giving a little different this year.  Normally we just say it out loud and move on to the next person.  But I wanted us to be a little more accountable.

 Several years ago my big brother came home from his mission to Russia.  Along with it he brought us all beautiful hand painted/crafted gifts.  One of the gifts he brought for me was this beautiful treasure box.  It hasn't ever really had a purpose other than to look pretty.  Well I thought it looked a lot like what I imagined the treasure boxes the wise men might have given to the Christ child.  It finally had a purpose.  To hold our gifts to the Savior.

We each wrote what we are going to work on this year and put them inside.  We will pull them out next year at the party, see how we did and then replace them with our new gifts.  I thought it would help us be a little more accountable.

So, along with what I wrote in the pretty box, I am putting it here as well.  I am going to be a better record keeper for myself and our family in 2013.